Gerald of Wales, The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales

Gerald of Wales, or Giraldus Cambrensis, was born at Manorbier in Pembrokshire in around 1146. His real name was Gerald de Barri, and he was of mixed Welsh and Norman ancestry. His father, William de Barry, was a leading Welsh nobleman. His uncle was Bishop of St. David's and he received a religious education. He became chaplain to King Henry II of England in 1184. He accompanied Prince John on his expedition to Ireland in 1184, which led to his first book, Topographia Hibernica (1188). In 1188 he accompanied the Archbishop of Canterbury, Baldwin of Exeter, on a tour of Wales recruiting for the Third Crusade, which led to him writing the Itinerarium Cambriae (1191) and the Descriptio Cambriae (1194). He died in about 1223.